Episode 132 – Making It in the Art World by Brainard Carey / Book-Ending Technique with a Friend

This is a classic technique where you check in with someone regularly. It could be a friend or someone you hire, like a coach. But you have an agreement with this person that goes something like this: “I will write to you every weekday before 6:00 pm, reporting on the work I did that day.” Then you design your new schedule as we have before. You choose one thirty-minute period, not much longer or shorter, and you do your work in that period and send it to your friend or coach.

This is an exercise that works for me. Also, if you ask this of a friend, you are asking them to help you, to help you accomplish a goal, and if all they have to do is receive your emails once a day, five days a week, why not? Wouldn’t you help someone wanting the same thing? Offering an exchange like that with someone can work very well. This can be done with a family member, old friend, or someone you hire like a coach or an assistant. For the sake of experimenting here, you could ask a friend or someone very close to you. Tell them that you need their support and are doing an experiment to see if you can reach a particular goal. Tell them your plan: you will work thirty minutes a day on it and email them every weekday to state your progress. That is all. They have to read it but do not have to respond if they don’t want to. Chances are, they will respond a little, and you will have a relationship over just this issue.

The main issue is that you hold yourself accountable by writing that check-in report every weekday. Also, you are reaching out to someone and telling someone what it is you are reaching for, and when you begin telling the world that you will do something, it tends to get done.